Dallas (WBAP/KLIF News) – Crews have finished clearing more than 300 people out of a homeless camp underneath Interstate 45 south of Downtown Dallas. The Dallas City Council announced a plan to take action after two people were killed in one month earlier this year.
Workers handed out bags for the dozens of people remaining at the site on Monday; they also provided instructions and directions to other shelters, but on Tuesday, some said they were simply planning to stay under other bridges.
“Running them away from the bridge here isn’t helping them,” one man said as he sat near the overpass on Hickory Street. “These people need counseling. Even though they don’t want it, they still need it.”
One woman says she was forced out of the camp without her sleeping bag Tuesday morning.
“I just want to get a place to sleep,” she says. “My tent is gone.”
Shelters nearby say they were preparing for an increase in demand. At Austin Street Shelter three blocks away, though, one man waiting outside said the line was no longer than usual.
A business owner and community organizer in Downtown Dallas has posted videos online suggesting the abandoned Forest Park Medical Center or Hensley Field in Grand Prairie as shelters.
The President of Cedars Neighborhood Association has called for the establishment of a shelter at the shuttered naval air station. Michael Sitarzewski’s plan would aim to raise $50 million in private donations to build small homes at the site.
(Copyright 2016 WBAP/KLIF News. All rights reserved)
